Asia is now Shimano’s largest market, bumping Europe into second place. The company’s Asian sales were up 14 percent, from $835.6 million (78.1 billion yen) in 2011 to $952.2 million (89.0 billion yen) last year. Sales into Europe were up five percent to $905.1 million (84.6 billion yen) and Shimano’s sales into North America hit $315.1 million (29.5 billion yen), a 13 percent increase.

Given persistent economic problems in Europe and the U.S., and the impact of this on Asian export-driven economies, Shimano only is predicting sales growth of 4 percent next year. The company does not expect the weakening yen, down 13 percent since November, to influence its business much.